This month, a lot of people weigh more than they did in the fall at their last appointment.  The problem is so widespread that, especially in people who are working to lose, I make it a point to applaud their efforts even if they have simply maintained their weight at the same number over the last few months. That’s because December is probably the single time of year in which people are most likely to eat large amounts of sugar and white flour. 

Some folks don’t want to know what they weigh, so we make an agreement.  I get the number, and I don’t tell them what it is.  I remind them that I don’t really care about the number itself; I’m just looking for changes, up or down, from the last visit.  I really care a lot more about how their pants fit.  Are they looser, tighter, or the same?  That’s a lot more important to me. 

Why is December such a problem?  It has to do mainly with the amount of desserts.  What happens when you eat a lot of sugar or starch?  You use a lot more insulin.  What happens when you use a lot more insulin? You store fat more efficiently, and you lose the ability to tell when you are full.  Then you increase your food intake accordingly. 

In my experience, when a person first begins to eat a diet that requires less insulin to metabolize, it takes about three days for their appetite to modulate.  When you eat a diet that requires a lot of insulin, those high insulin levels coat the satiety centers in your brain and make it very hard to tell that you are full.  When you make changes like those in my “Four Recommendations,” you use less insulin.  On the third day, when your body finally realizes that it doesn’t need all the insulin that it’s making, your pancreas “downregulates” insulin production.  That’s how long it takes your body to begin to respond to the fact that it doesn’t need as much insulin. 

Less insulin translates into less hunger. Three days after you start eating an “insulin-conserving” diet, you wake up noticeably less hungry than you used to be. 

I tell patients not to worry, that the number will take care of itself as they get back on track making smart choices.  And it does.  So it’s okay to celebrate the holidays.  It’s okay to have a piece of wedding cake.  Or birthday cake.  It’s probably okay to have a slice of pie every weekend.  But you can’t have it every day.  Our insulin levels will manage fine if we ask them to spike only once in a while.  The problem comes when we eat foods that make them spike every day.  Because when your insulin levels are rising every day, they are no longer spiking.  Now they are just high. 

That’s why I say that what happens in December stays in December.  It’s not what we do once in a while that makes trouble for us.  It’s what we do all the time.  You can’t live in December and expect to remain healthy.  But you can visit it from time to time.